The Magician of Sound

The days passed quickly, and even after a month, Ayaka had yet to come back. At first, Kai worried about her, but seeing there was no action from her family, she must have told them what she was going to do. Realizing that, Kai shook the thought away and patiently waited for her.

After all, knowing how her family was, they should have been the first to search for her. Instead, they acted like nothing happened even after he called them to ask about her. They only said Ayaka went for a training session but left any other information blank.

"What are we going to do now? It's only a week away until we need to take another mission. Are we going without her again?" Tasha asked while placing her head on the table. It would seem that after a month, she got bored with her research and wanted to have some action.

It couldn't be helped. After all, they didn't do anything other than laze around this whole time. The stress had accumulated to the point they lost motivation to even research. Besides, they were not passionate researchers, so the stress built up quicker.

Kai thought for a moment before deciding to contact Ayaka again. Unfortunately, there was not a single reply from her.

"Well, let's just wait for another week for our deadline. If she doesn't come back within a week, then we'll just grab another mission." Kai shrugged while staring at Michelle for a few seconds.

"Hmm? Do you need anything from me?" Noticing his gaze, Michelle replied with a smile.

"Actually, can I borrow your communication device?" Kai asked.

Although the request surprised her, she quickly took out her device and gave it to him before asking, "For what?"

Despite her question, Michelle already handed the communication device to him, showing her trust. It wasn't like Kai actually wanted to do anything strange or indecent with her device. He just browsed through her contacts before finding a certain name.

Kai copied the number and dialed it with his device before handing it back to Michelle.

With just a few numbers, Michelle recognized who it was and asked Kai with a serious expression. "Why are you calling him?"

Before Kai could explain, the other side already picked up the call and asked, "Hello, who is this? Are you a terrorist who's going to say 'I kidnapped your granddaughter, so come here and bring some money?'"

"..." The aged voice still had a hint of jest, rendering Kai and Michelle speechless. Tasha and Sanae also recognized this voice as they had met this person, while Evan listened carefully.

"It's me." It was unknown whether Kai was frustrated or amused by this old man's joke, but he only spoke with a tired expression.

"Oh, my grandson-in-law! It's rare for you to call me! Is this your number?" Nathan happily replied.

"Yes. I got your contact from Michelle's device." Kai answered honestly.

"So, why are you calling me? Are you going to tell me I'll soon have a great-grandson or granddaughter?"

"No. I want to ask you about Ayaka's matter. From how you told her something and didn't want me to know... Where did you send her?" Kai asked.

"Ah, her? It seems she didn't tell you about it. Well… since she has already gone to that place, there is no point in hiding it from you." Nathan let out a long sigh.

Hearing Nathan's words, Kai facepalmed before supporting his head with his hand. Just by those words, he was immediately enlightened. He realized where she went and what kind of thing she would ask. "All right, I know why she's been missing for a month."

"You know? Are you sure you're not misunderstanding anything?"

"I just want to ask, why do you think it's the best way for her to get stronger?" Kai asked with an annoyed tone.

"I never said it's the best way. I only offered her two ways, a safe way or a desperate way. I have watched you and your Lion Group's battle, and I can understand her frustration. That is the reason she went there." Nathan replied honestly.

"All right, I'm going to hang up." Kai sighed before putting his device down.

But before Kai could hang up the call, Nathan added another thing. "Why don't you call her? She must miss you."

Everyone thought that the person Nathan was referring to was Ayaka. Still, Kai and Michelle understood that the word 'her' on his mouth pointed at another person. That person knew him even earlier than Tasha before disappearing from their life.

"Well, it's only a call, so I guess it's fine." Kai pondered for a few seconds before replying and quickly hung up the call.

"Is she…" Michelle looked at him with a complicated expression.

"Yeah. It's exactly who you think it is." Kai nodded in frustration.

"Who is 'she'? I thought you were referring to Ayaka, but it seems that I'm mistaken." Tasha couldn't help but ask.

"She's my teacher, the one who taught me everything from fighting, scouting, and all the things I needed for a year. She goes by the name Ria Ross," Kai replied.

"Ria Ross?" The first two people who reacted to that name were Evan and Sanae. Evan knew her because the Zodiacs originated from her hand. In contrast, Sanae knew her because Ria Ross was a special person in the world.

"Ria Ross… Do you mean the genius S-rank magician who killed the S-rank magical beasts in Canada around a decade ago?" Sanae remarked with a shocked face.

Evan stared at him as he remembered the fact that Kai was the first-ever Zodiac.

"Yeah. She led a hundred elites to fight an S-rank magical beast. The battle was hard-fought as she lost around half of the super elites. You could say the loss damaged them since those fifty people were commanders that were capable of leading an army with their prowess and brain.

"After killing the magical beast, the tired Ria Ross holed herself in her research room away from people. After another three years, she was frustrated and thought about committing suicide. At that time, a few people asked her to rest and fly to United Asia or Europe United Base, and she chose United Asia. Coincidentally, she arrived when the tragedy happened.

"I was only six years old at that time and almost died because of my injuries. It was at that time that I met her, and she brought me back to life with the cost of being the first-ever Zodiac. She created the Zodiac power because she thought she could revive people who were on the brink of death. In her case, it was her fallen comrades. In the end, the only person she was able to save was me.

"Maybe it was out of pity, but Ria Ross injected the blood into my body and saved my life. She treated me like a responsibility of some sort and took me in as her student. My parents even knew her, but she told them to keep it a secret to prevent her name from being used and so I don't end up being targeted because of her.

"After that, she taught me for a year before finally coming back to this place. It seemed that she found another reason while the little me… had a bit of trauma with her." Kai's face turned pale as he recalled the matter from a decade ago. "She killed me almost eleven thousand times within a year as a part of the training."

Michelle looked away while the others gasped. A 6 or 7-year-old young boy died almost eleven thousand times in a year. They couldn't imagine how Kai survived up to this day. However, Sanae could finally relate why Kai would have such personality and strength.

"By the way, why did Ayaka go there? Does she want to train under her?" Evan asked.

"No. You and I are staring at the reason right now." Kai looked at Evan mysteriously.

After a few seconds, Evan realized what he meant and exclaimed, "Zodiac power."

Kai sighed again before dialing a person.

It would seem that the person from the other side didn't expect such a call, as she said with a bit of a flustered tone. "Ya, my beloved student. Why are you calling me at this time? Even though you have been avoiding me for almost a decade."

"Saying that so easily even after you killed a kid eleven thousand times," Kai talked back.

"Oi, oi. It's not eleven thousand times. It's only 10,950 times since it's thirty times per day."

"And you even remember the exact number…" Kai let out another long sigh. "Anyway, I want to ask you about Ayaka. Is she with you right now?"

"Eh, I thought you were going to be angry at me…"

"The request must have come from Ayaka, not you. If you truly injected the blood into Ayaka's body, you must have done it for me."

"Hehe… Such a good student you are…"

"Anyway, answer my question."

"She left this place two days ago. Has she come back to school yet?"

"Eh? She already left?" Kai remarked with astonishment.

"Yeah. Well, I won't give you a big spoiler, but I think I can tell you this. She is Aries."

"Aries…" Kai thought for a second why she named her Aries, but not a single thought came to his mind.

"Anyway, come to my place after the new year. You will surely regret it if you don't." Ria Ross said with a happy tone before ending the call.

"..." Kai fell into silence while glancing at everyone in the room. Soon after, he heard footsteps in front of the room.

Outside the room, a brown-haired young lady slowly walked toward the room with her heart rate constantly increasing. She didn't know whether she was anxious or excited, but she had prepared for this a long time ago.

She gulped down and halted in front of the door for a minute before finally opening the door.